Kingston ‘boil water’ advisory could be lifted Saturday

KINGSTON >> Chlorine in Kingston’s water system returned to normal levels Friday afternoon, but a “boil water” advisory remained in effect for the city.

The advisory was issued early Friday, after the city Water Department discovered a malfunction in equipment that kills potentially harmful microbes in the water. The equipment failure resulted in “inadequate disinfection,” the department said in a press release.

Al Alberts, an administrative assistant in the city Water Department, said Friday afternoon that the advisory will be lifted Saturday if an analysis of water samples taken Friday reveals no remaining problems.

Water Department employees brought the chlorine level back up manually on Friday, but Alberts said the equipment problem still had to be fixed.

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“The issue is that we had an equipment malfunction at one of treatment facilities, which caused a lower choline residuals in the water,” he said. “And when the chlorine residual goes below certain standards, the (state) Department of Health requires us to issue a ‘boil water’ notice.”

In issuing the notice, the department said: “Harmful microbes in drinking water can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms and may pose a special risk for infants, some elderly and people with severely compromised immune systems.”

The advisory was in effect for the entire city, except customers of the Golden Hill, Hillside Acres and town of Ulster water systems.

The Water Department said boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth and preparing food.

Shortly after the advisory was issued, Kingston Alderwoman Elsa Ball renewed her call for the city to develop a more effective way of notifying residents of emergencies.

“I am very alarmed by the fact that we still don’t have an effective way of notifying the general population when we have an emergency like the ‘boil water’ alert that was issued today,” Ball, D-Ward 6, said in an email on Friday. “The (Common) Council needs to call to action and remedy this problem. Having no plan is a bad plan.”

People learned about Friday’s water problem on the city’s website and the websites of the Freeman and other newspapers, via text alerts, on the radio and through social media, among other ways, but Ball said her 82-year-old father didn’t know about it.

“He was not told of the emergency until he had already consumed water,” she said.

“I am personally registered with ‘NY Alert,’ therefore I received a text and email this morning telling me about the emergency,” Ball said. “However, many people that I work with who live in Kingston did not get any message. They drank water this morning and gave water to their pets.”

Ball said her father “does not have a cell phone that will send him a text, he does not have a computer, he is not registered with ‘NY Alert.’”

Ball first called for a siren system two months after Kingston’s last “boil water advisory.” The water problem at that time forced schools in the city to close.

“It became readily apparent during the recent water emergency that there is no appropriate emergency alert system in place for the city of Kingston,” Ball said in 2012.

“I think that we should utilize what we have at our disposal, at no cost to the taxpayers of the city of Kingston, the fire department siren system,” Ball said at the time. “I think we need to develop a coordinated plan with all the firehouses in the city of Kingston. The plan includes the use of sirens in a predetermined pattern that would alert the residents that something has happened.”

Common Council Majority Leader Matthew Dunn said on Friday that he hoped Mayor Shayne Gallo would develop a better emergency notification plan. He noted that not all city residents have cellphones or computers and some don’t speak English.

“He (Gallo) has not done anything for people who do not have cellphones or subscribe to social media,” said Dunn, D-Ward 1. “I hope he puts a plan together, but if not, the council will.”

Gallo said an emergency notification policy is in place in which city residents are notified on the city’s website, on social media pages, via the “Kingston Report It’” app and by local news media.

He said Ball’s proposed siren system would be too expensive to put in place.

Of Dunn’s criticism, the mayor said: “As usual, Mr. Dunn shoots from the lip without even courtesy of a phone call to my office or any other city agency. Once again, it is a shame that (residents) are not being served by the political grandstanding and the misplaced priorities on the part of Mr. Dunn.”

About the Author

Paul Kirby is a reporter for the Freeman, covering Kingston politics. He has been at the Freeman since August 1996. Reach the author at pkirby@freemanonline.com
or follow Paul on Twitter: @PaulatFreeman.